System, Method and Software for Providing Persistent Entity Identification and Linking Entity Information in an Integrated Data Repository

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a system, method and software for linking persistent and unique business identifiers, associated with business entities, for associating corresponding business records without a loss of historical records, regardless of subsequent changes, updates, and mergers. In the various embodiments, a first business record, of the plurality of business records, is associated with a first business identifier; and a second business record, which does not match the first record, is associated with a second business identifier. Subsequently, when the first business identifier and the second business identifier are determined to correspond to a singular business entity, the first business identifier and the second business identifier are linked, and respective associations of the first business record and the second business record with the linked first business identifier and second business identifier are maintained, with corresponding source references, and collectively utilized in subsequent search and match determinations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to John L.Skurtovich, Jr. et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/620,323filed Nov. 17, 2009 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. ______, entitled“System, Method And Software For Providing Persistent Business EntityIdentification And Linking Business Entity Information In An IntegratedData Repository”, which is a continuation of and claims priority to JohnL. Skurtovich, Jr. et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/651,469filed Aug. 29, 2003 and issued Jan. 12, 2010 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,647,344,entitled “System, Method And Software For Providing Persistent EntityIdentification And Linking Entity Information In An Integrated DataRepository”, which further claims the benefit of and priority to U.S.provisional application Ser. No. 60/474,350, filed May 29, 2003, by JohnL. Skurtovich, Jr. et al., entitled “Advanced Data Management Process toCreate Customized View of Client's Consumer Data and Applications”, eachof which is incorporated by reference herein with the same full forceand effect as if set forth in their entireties herein, with priorityclaimed for all commonly disclosed subject matter.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in general, to database managementsystems and, more particularly, to a system, method and software forproviding consistent and persistent business entity identification andlinking business entity information in an integrated data repository.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Business and consumer records are typically contained in databases andother forms of data repositories. Typical databases may contain recordssuch as credit histories, driving records, demographic data, customerdata, marketing data, name and address information, bank accountinformation, medical data, court records, securities transactions, andso on. Virtually any type of information may be contained in any suchdatabase.

The information contained in such data repositories, however, isgenerally not static, but is continually changing. For example, accountbalances may vary from day to day. Individuals change their names, ormove to a new city. Businesses expand and add locations, are acquired ordivested, or, unfortunately, may go out of business. As a consequence,it is not only important to continually update the appropriate databaseswith current information, it is also important to track the sources ofthe updated information, and the likelihood that such changes have, infact, occurred.

In the prior art, however, when such records are updated, the previousinformation may be lost. Typically in database management systems, whenan update occurs, an older record is merged into the newer record andthen may be deleted or purged. The updated information may be inaccurateor erroneous, however, with the accurate data now lost due to the recordmerger process. In addition, any historical data associated with themerged record may also be lost, including a loss of corresponding sourceinformation and other information which pertains to the credibility ofthe data. In other prior art system, the historical data may be archivedand unavailable for use in current data processing tasks.

As a consequence, a need remains for a method, system and software whichprovides the capability for appropriate mergers of business records, butwhich also preserves all associated historical data, including sourceinformation and merge history, and provides for such historical data tobe available in real time for use in current processing tasks, such assearching and matching processes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system, method and software for linkingunique business identifiers, associated with business entities, forassociating corresponding business records over time without a loss ofhistorical records, regardless of subsequent changes, updates, andmergers. In the various embodiments, a first business record, of theplurality of business records, is associated with a first businessidentifier of a plurality of business identifiers, with each businessidentifier of the plurality of business identifiers being unique. Asecond business record, of the plurality of business records, isassociated with a second business identifier of the plurality ofbusiness identifiers. Subsequently, when the first business identifierand the second business identifier are determined to correspond to asingular business entity of the plurality of business entities, thefirst business identifier and the second business identifier are linked.In addition, the respective associations of the first business recordand the second business record with the linked first business identifierand second business identifier are maintained throughout this linking,generally for a predetermined period of time.

In the various embodiments, the first business identifier and the secondbusiness identifier are determined to correspond to the singularbusiness entity when a determination is made that a third businessrecord, of the plurality of business records, matches with a firstelement of a first plurality of elements of the first business recordand further matches with a second element of a second plurality ofelements of the second business record. In selected embodiments, thefirst plurality of elements and the second plurality of elements eachcomprise at least two similar variations of the following commonelements: a business name element, a business address element, a taxidentification element, a telephone number element, a standard industrycode element, and a client key element. In the various matchingprocesses, the matches may be exact, or may be flexible (less exact)with corresponding confidence levels, rankings or weightings.

Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention willbecome readily apparent from the following detailed description of theinvention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will bemore readily appreciated upon reference to the following disclosure whenconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and exampleswhich form a portion of the specification, in which:

Figure (or “FIG.”) 1 is a block diagram illustrating first and secondexemplary system embodiments in accordance with the present invention.

Figure (or “FIG.”) 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplaryintegrated data repository in accordance with the present invention.

Figure (or “FIG.”) 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a first exemplarybusiness linking method in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in manydifferent forms, there are shown in the drawings and will be describedherein in detail specific examples and embodiments thereof, with theunderstanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as anexemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intendedto limit the invention to the specific examples and embodimentsillustrated.

As indicated above, the present invention provides a system, method andsoftware for linking unique business identifiers, associated withbusiness entities, for associating corresponding business recordswithout a loss of historical records, regardless of subsequent changes,updates, and mergers. The business identifiers (or identifications)(“BIDs”), in accordance with the present invention, are persistent andinvariant, namely, once assigned to a selected business entity, the BIDwill continue to exist and identify that selected business entity, at agranular (i.e., atomic or data record) level. When BIDs are linked, asdiscussed below, all BIDs continue to exist, rather than eliminating oneor more identifiers when data records are merged. The BIDs are alsoconsistent over time, and all associated records are then utilizedtogether as a group for other processing tasks.

Business records associated with different business identifiers maysubsequently be matched, indicating that the different businessidentifiers are actually associated with the same business entity and,in accordance with the present invention, the corresponding BIDs will be“linked”. Following a linking of BIDs, each BID of the linking willcontinue to exist, as will all corresponding historical records.Throughout these linkings, all information associated with each separateBID is maintained over time, is not archived, but is available andaccessible in real time for use in current processing tasks, such assearching and matching.

The maintenance of records and other information at a “granular” oratomic level, without consolidation or merger, and the persistentassociation of those records with a BID, are significant. First, itimproves the search and matching methodology of the invention, allowingsearches to include data variations, such as name and addressvariations, which might otherwise be lost in a merger of data records.Second, the history and sources for all of this information are alsotracked and maintained, providing significant verification capability,and providing additional differentiation capability and confidencelevels in the matching process. Third, the atomic level data ismaintained in a non-archival and active way, such that it is alwaysavailable for making any and all future match, update of linkingdecisions.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating first exemplary system embodiment110 and second exemplary system embodiment 150 in accordance with thepresent invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the first exemplary systemembodiment 110 is a mainframe computer embodiment, comprising an inputand output (I/O) interface 105, one or more processors 115, and a memory120 storing a database (or data repository) 110A. The second system 150comprises an integrated data repository (or database) 100B (alsoembodied in a form of memory, discussed below), a database managementserver 140, and/or an application server 125. A “data repository”,“database”, and “data warehouse”, as used herein, are consideredinterchangeable, and may be relational, object-oriented, orobject-relational. Both database 110A and 110B are instantiations of adatabase 100, discussed in greater detail below.

In selected embodiments of system 150, the database management server140 and the application server 125 may be implemented together, such asimplemented within the application server 125. Either or both of thedatabase management server 140 and the application server 125 arecoupled (or couplable) to the integrated data repository (database)100B, for full duplex communication, such as for database queries,database file or record transfers, database updates, and other forms ofdatabase communication. In the second system embodiment 150, thedatabase management server 140 and/or the application server 125 performthe methodology of the invention utilizing a correspondingly programmedor configured processor as discussed below (not separately illustrated),such as a processor 115, in conjunction with a database 100 (such asdatabase 100B).

Typically, the databases 100A and 100B are ODBC-compliant (Open DatabaseConnectivity), although this is not required for the present invention.The first system 110 and second system 150 may also be coupled to or maybe part of a local area network (“LAN”) 130 or, not separatelyillustrated, a wide area network (“WAN”), such as for full duplexcommunication with a plurality of computers (or other terminals) 135,also for database queries, database file or record transfers, databaseupdates, and other forms of database communication. The LAN 130communication capability provides for the first system 110 and secondsystem 150 to be accessible for local access to the databases 100A and100B, such as for large file transfers or other batch processing,discussed in greater detail below. In addition, the first system 110 mayalso be directly accessible (185), such as for loading of records (e.g.,magnetic tape records or other media) for batch processing.

The first system 110 and second system 150 may also be included withinor coupled to a larger data communication network 180, through network(or web) server 160, for full duplex communication with remote devices,such as a remote Internet or other network server 170 and remotecomputer (or other terminal) 175. Such remote communication capabilityprovides for the first system 110 and second system 150 to be accessiblefor on-line functionality, discussed in greater detail below, such asfor web-based access, using any of the prior art protocols, such ashypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) or other Internet Protocol (“IP”)forms of communication for data, voice or multimedia.

The integrated data repository (or database) 100, illustrated asdatabases 110A and 110B, may be embodied in any number of forms,including within any data storage medium, memory device or other storagedevice, such as a magnetic hard drive, an optical drive, othermachine-readable storage or memory media such as a floppy disk, a CDROM,a CD-RW, a memory integrated circuit (“IC”), or memory portion of anintegrated circuit (such as the resident memory within a processor IC),including without limitation RAM, FLASH, DRAM, SRAM, MRAM, FeRAM, ROM,EPROM or E²PROM, or any other type of memory, storage medium, or datastorage apparatus or circuit, which is known or which becomes known,depending upon the selected embodiment.

In the first system 110, the I/O interface may be implemented as knownor may become known in the art. The first system 110 and second system150 further include one or more processors, such as processor 115illustrated for first system 110. As the term processor is used herein,these implementations may include use of a single integrated circuit(“IC”), or may include use of a plurality of integrated circuits orother components connected, arranged or grouped together, such asmicroprocessors, digital signal processors (“DSPs”), custom ICs,application specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), field programmablegate arrays (“FPGAs”), adaptive computing ICs, associated memory (suchas RAM and ROM), and other ICs and components. As a consequence, as usedherein, the term processor should be understood to equivalently mean andinclude a single IC, or arrangement of custom ICs, ASICs, processors,microprocessors, controllers, FPGAs, adaptive computing ICs, or someother grouping of integrated circuits which perform the functionsdiscussed below, with associated memory, such as microprocessor memoryor additional RAM, DRAM, SRAM, MRAM, ROM, EPROM or E²PROM. A processor(such as processor 115), with its associated memory, may be configured(via programming, FPGA interconnection, or hard-wiring) to perform themethodology of the invention, as discussed above and as furtherdiscussed below. For example, the methodology may be programmed andstored, in a processor with its associated memory (and/or memory 120)and other equivalent components, as a set of program instructions (orequivalent configuration or other program) for subsequent execution whenthe processor is operative (i.e., powered on and functioning).Equivalently, when the first system 110 and second system 150 mayimplemented in whole or part as FPGAs, custom ICs and/or ASICs, theFPGAs, custom ICs or ASICs also may be designed, configured and/orhard-wired to implement the methodology of the invention. For example,the first system 110 and second system 150 may implemented as anarrangement of microprocessors, DSPs and/or ASICs, collectively referredto as a “processor”, which are respectively programmed, designed orconfigured to implement the methodology of the invention, in conjunctionwith a database 100.

The application server 125 and database management server 140 may beimplemented using any form of server, computer or other computationaldevice as known or may become known in the art, such as a server orother computing device having a processor, microprocessor, controller,digital signal processor (“DSP”), adaptive computing circuit, or otherintegrated circuit programmed or configured to perform the methodologyof the present invention, such as a processor 115, as discussed ingreater detail below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary integrated datarepository (or database) 100 in accordance with the present invention.As mentioned above, “data repository” as used herein, is consideredinterchangeable with “database”, and may be relational, object-oriented,or object-relational, or utilize any other database structure, inaccordance with a selected embodiment. The database 100 is consideredintegrated, namely, that the information resides within a singular,co-located or otherwise centralized database structure or schema, ratherthan distributed between and among a plurality of databases, some ofwhich may be remotely located from the other databases. The database 100is also considered integrated in that a plurality of different types oftables, objects or relations are included within the database 100, suchas including a business source master table 205 with the otherillustrated tables discussed below. While generally not included withinthe database 100 (as private client data), optionally one or more copiesof client databases or client master databases (such as client databasecopy 245) may also be utilized. (Use of non-integrated databasesdistributed database structures or schemas, however, are within thescope of the present invention. While referred to as tables, it shouldbe understood that the tables illustrated in the database 100 of FIG. 2are to be construed broadly, to mean and include relations, objects,object relations, multidimensional relations, cubes, or other similar orequivalent database constructs.

An index (relation or look-up table) 210 of identifiers oridentifications (“IDs”) of a plurality of business entities, referred toherein as business IDs (“BIDs”), is included within the database 100.The BID index 210 also provides relations or cross-references to aplurality of other relations or tables, such as an address table 220, abusiness source master table 205, a business ID merge history table 225,a corporate relationship table 230, a business name table 215 and,optionally, a business identity table 235, a business owner linkagetable 260, a client database copy 245, and other information tables 255.Each of these tables (the address table 220, the business source mastertable 205, the business ID merge history table 225, the corporaterelationship table 230, the business name table 215, the businessidentity table 235, the business owner linkage table 260, the clientdatabase copy 245, and other information tables 255) also provide areference to a corresponding BID (if any) (e.g., selection of an addressfrom the address table 220 will include a BID associated with thataddress). In one of the exemplary system embodiments, the address table220 may also be utilized in common with a consumer ID index or table240, which further provides relations or cross-references to a pluralityof types of consumer data in consumer data table 265, for variousconsumer-oriented database management services, and for relations to thebusiness owner linkage table 260. The data repository 100 is generallyincluded within a first system 110 and second system 150, andrespectively accessed through the I/O 105 and processor 115, or anapplication server 125 or database management server 140, discussedabove.

Use of an address table 220 which is common to both business entityidentification and consumer identification has distinct advantages. Forexample, for any given name or address, it may be initially unknownwhether the name or address pertains to a consumer or a business entity,particularly when a proper name is utilized as a business name (e.g.,“Marshall Field”, “Nordstrom”, etc.). For these cases, a search may beperformed first through a consumer database, and if no match occurs,through a business database, such as database 100. For example, a searchmay be performed initially through a consumer name table, and if nomatch is found, a subsequent search through a business entity nametable. Alternatively, a search may be performed through the addresstable, which may then reference either a BID or a consumer ID,corresponding either to a business entity or an individual person.

A unique business identifier (or identification) (BID), in accordancewith the invention, is assigned to a “logical business unit” for abusiness entity, requiring at least a name and an associated address forthe business entity (rather than just a name or just an address), asdiscussed in greater detail below. In an exemplary embodiment, a BID is15 bytes, with the first five bytes utilizing alpha characters, and thenext ten bytes utilizing integers. The BIDs are initially assignedsequentially and are then encrypted (which eliminates any sequentialnature). In addition, in selected embodiments, the entire BID is uniqueacross all applications, and with the ten least significant digitsunique across any specific client application (which, for a selectedapplication, requires only the storage of these ten least significantdigits). These business identifiers are stored and indexed in thebusiness ID index 210 of the integrated data repository 100.

The address table 220 contains all addresses which will be utilized forsearching, comparing, and matching processes, as discussed below. Thecorporate relationship table 230, for any selected business entity,includes information pertaining to related corporations, such as parentcompanies, subsidiary companies, sister companies, etc. The business IDmerge history table 225 contains all linking information, as discussedin greater detail below, in which one BID is linked to another BID, suchthat each BID represents the same business entity. The business nametable 215 contains all business names, in various forms, variations,abbreviations, and so on, and is also utilized for searching, comparing,and matching processes, as discussed below. The business identity table235 (optional) includes other types of business information for businessentities, such as tax identification (“tax ID”) information, standardindustry codes (“SIC” codes), telephone numbers, and client or thirdparty identifier or key information, which also may be utilized in thesearching, comparing, and matching processes, as discussed below. Itshould be noted that business entity information may be contained ordistributed among one or more tables, such as business name table 215and business identity table 235, in any number of equivalent ways, anyand all of which being within the scope of the present invention. Thebusiness owner linkage table 260 (optional) includes information on theowners of business entities who, as individual consumers in manyinstances, may also have related information in the consumer data table265. The client database copy 245 (optional) includes a copy of a one ormore client databases, typically having some associated level of privacy(private information), but which may also be utilized (with clientpermission) in searching, comparing, and matching processes, asdiscussed below, and in determining and providing client database updateinformation. Also optionally included within database 100 are otherinformation tables 255, such as for demographic information, creditinformation, and fraud information.

The business source master table 205 contains records and otherinformation from a plurality of reporter sources 250. Typically, thereporter sources are selected for reliability, and may include thousandsof different sources. For each item of information or other form ofrecord within the database 100, the business source master table 205will provide information concerning the source of that record, providinga source reference for the current and historical data within thedatabase 100. These relations back to the reporter sources contained inthe business source master table 205 are also useful in change detectionand updating records within the database 100.

The business identifiers (or identifications) (BIDs), in accordance withthe present invention, are persistent and invariant, namely, onceassigned to a selected business entity, the BID will continue to existand identify that selected business entity, at a granular (atomic ordata record) level.

The maintenance of records and other information at an “atomic” or“granular” level, without consolidation or merger, and associating thoserecords with a BID, are significant. First, it improves the searchmethodology of the invention, allowing searches to include datavariations, such as name and address variations. For example, “JohnSkurtovich Enterprises” may match with atomic-level records for “J.Skurtovich”, “John Skurtovich Co.”, “Skurtovich Enterprises”,“Skurtovicke Ent.”, and so on, all associated with a BID and maintainedat this detailed level. Second, the history and sources for all of thisinformation are also tracked and maintained, providing significantverification capability, and providing additional differentiationcapability in the match process (e.g., providing less credibility orweighting to a misspelling, an error, or an infrequent reference). Inaddition, the atomic level data is maintained in a non-archival orotherwise active way, such that it is always available for making anyand all future match, update of linking decisions.

Using the present invention, this BID will continue to exist, andmaintain all corresponding historical records, regardless of subsequentchanges, updates, and mergers of records. In accordance with the presentinvention, a first BID assigned to a selected business entitysubsequently may be “linked” with (i.e., coupled, associated orotherwise related to) with a second BID assigned to the same (matched)business entity, and so on, through linking or association with ann^(th) BID for the selected, matched business entity. Throughout each ofthese linkings (couplings, associations or other relations) of orbetween first and subsequent BIDs, all information associated with eachseparate BID is maintained over time.

For example, a business entity having a business name “XYZ” and anaddress of “address 1” may be assigned a (first) BID of “123” in thedatabase 100. Subsequently, a second record is received in the database100, for a business entity also having a business name “XYZ”, but havingan address of “address 2”. Without more information at the time, it isunknown whether the second “XYZ” is an expansion of the first “XYZ” to asecond location “address 2”, or is an alternate identification of thefirst “XYS”, or is a separate business entity altogether, such as asecond “XYZ” franchise or some other wholly unrelated business whichjust happens to have the same name. As a consequence, business entityhaving a business name “XYZ” with an address of “address 2” is assigneda (second) BID of, for example, “456”.

Subsequently, more information may become available, such as businessaccount information, telephone number or tax ID, for the business entityhaving BID “456”, e.g., “First National account no. ‘qrs’”, whichmatches the business account information of the business entity havingBID “123”. Utilizing the matching intelligence discussed below, thisinformation may be utilized to indicate that one business entity isinvolved, having two separate locations, or having multiple addresseswithin a single business campus. As a consequence, in accordance withthe present invention, both first and second BIDs become linked orassociated with the other, such that all information pertaining to thisselected business entity may be accessed using either BID “123” or“456”, and with the preservation of all historical informationassociated with either BID, such as current and previous addresses,current and previous accounts, other locations, standard industry codes(“SIC” codes), tax identification numbers, telephone numbers, otherbusiness information such as related corporations (parent, subsidiary,conglomerate), possible business owner information, the correspondingsources for each item of information, and any authentications orverifications of each item of information. Once linked, all of theinformation for each BID is effectively “pulled together” as a group,with all data variations included for subsequent searching and matching.

Conversely, subsequent information may be obtained which indicates thatthese business entities are, in fact, separate, distinct and unrelatedbusiness entities. For example, information may be obtained that thesecond “XYZ” is in a wholly unrelated type of business, such as a carwash business rather than a fast food restaurant. As a consequence, thetwo separate BIDs will not be linked, but will continue to be maintainedseparately and independently, also with preservation of all historicalinformation separately associated with each BID.

The matching intelligence avoids linking records which have incompatibledata, even when some element matches exist. Using an individual name,for example, the method of the invention would not link a “Mary Smith”with a “John Smith”, as the gender data is incompatible. Similarly forbusiness records, certain records which are not compatible would not belinked, such as a business record having a restaurant SIC code and abusiness record having a manufacturing SIC code, even if the respectivenames match.

This linking of separate (and previously independent) BIDs, coupled withthe persistence of each separate BID, in accordance with the presentinvention, provides a mechanism to maintain all corresponding historicaldata and records, with corresponding source information, without mergerof records, in stark contrast with the prior art. This also enables theassociated records to be maintained as a group, and incorporated intosearching and matching algorithms, with a selected record able to bematched against atomic or granular-level records contained within anentire group rather than to merged records. As discussed in greaterdetail below, the methodology of the present invention focuses onproviding data associations, rather than reducing the number ofentities, and will default to maintaining separate records with unlinkedBIDs, unless evidence exists to link the records. In addition, thelinkage technology of the present invention helps to enable aself-healing database, with potentially erroneous or unauthenticatedinformation given less confidence or lower ranking in searching andmatching, based on collected confirmations from various ranked sources.

In the prior art, however, such matching records would be merged orupdated, potentially with a default to merger, with the potential lossof any previously associated identifier or key, and with a loss ofcorresponding historical information for that identifier (purge),including a loss of the identification of information sources for aparticular record. In other prior art circumstances, the informationwould not be merged, but also would not be associated, with all updatesgoing to the second identifier, and with the first identifiereffectively becoming dormant. In other circumstances, historical recordsmay be archived and rendered unavailable for use in future match, updateof linking decisions.

The linking methodology of the present invention, with its associatedsearch and match methodology, is discussed in greater detail withreference to FIG. 3. The present invention utilizes a “logical businessunit” for a business entity, requiring at least a name and an associatedaddress for the business entity (rather than just a name or just anaddress). This allows, for example, multiple franchises having the samename to nonetheless be differentiated as separate businesses. Otherinformation, such as account or business credit information, a singlemailing address, a single billing address, etc., may be utilized toassociate a single business with multiple addresses as one “logicalbusiness unit” with an associated BID.

Because of the importance of address information in businessidentification, the present invention also utilizes a second identifier,referred to as a site identifier (“site ID”), which is also persistent.For example, a business having multiple locations may have a selectedbusiness ID (and possibly previous BIDs which have now been linked tothe selected BID), coupled with one or more site IDs, for each businessaddress. The combined BID and site ID then provides a unique identifierfor each location for that business entity.

The linkage methodology of the present invention may occur under a widevariety of circumstances. One such circumstance, illustrated in FIG. 3,may occur in comparing or evaluating customer or client data, such asfor providing mailing list or other client data corrections, eliminatingduplicate client records, providing enhanced data, or for providinginformation for a particular client inquiry. Another circumstance, alsoillustrated in FIG. 3, may occur in updating the database 100 withcurrent information from reporter sources, generally on a regular basis,when incoming data from reporter sources or other current information iscompared with existing data, and may or may not match.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a first exemplary business linkagemethod in accordance with the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3,the method begins with a business inquiry from a client, step 300, suchas an online inquiry, or through submission of a list or file (referredto as a batch file), such as a mailing list of names and addresses, step305, or through input of reporter source data, step 307. When such abatch file is submitted in step 305, or depending upon the type ofreporter information input in step 307, the batch file or reporterinformation is converted to a standard input format (transformation),step 310, using any applicable or available software, such as Group One.In addition, in the transformation step 310, reporter information alsomay be edited and ranked, prior to conversion to the standard inputformat. From step 300, 307 or 310, the input information, generallyreferred to herein as “inquiry data” (or, in some cases, reporter data),is parsed and standardized, step 315, so that all matches andcomparisons will utilize the same types of data having the same type offormat or structure. Step 315 may also include various types ofcorrections, for example, zip or other postal code corrections.

Next, the inquiry data is searched and matched using a methodologyreferred to as the “Find Business Engine”, step 320, with its pluralityof incorporated steps, discussed below. The search and match methodologybegins by searching within database 100 for any and all possible orpotential matches, using a plurality of potential match criteria orkeys, step 325, with a goal of maximizing the number of possible matchesand incorporating any potential match into the search results. As aconsequence, the search step 325 includes, as a potential match, anyrecord which matches to any of the plurality of match criteria or keys,including business name, address, telephone number, tax identificationnumbers, and any client key information (which may include private,subscription, or third party information or identifiers). When theclient inquiry information also includes a BID reference, BID matching(as key matching) is also utilized in step 325. Exact matches are notrequired, and matching rules in this search step 325 are overlyinclusive, allowing misspellings, missing characters or numbers,character or number shuffles, nicknames or shortened names andaddresses, “sounds like” names and addresses, and so on. The quality ofthe match is considered, however, providing higher qualifications to anexact match compared to a less exact match. The search process mayutilize any of the various tables of the database 100 discussed above.

From the results of the search, which is generally overly inclusive, instep 330, duplicate records are eliminated, such as those with the sameBID. Also within step 330, the results are also examined to determinewhich are subject to a “logical merge”, i.e., which records already havelinked BIDs, by examining the Business ID merge history table 225 withindatabase 100. Utilizing logical merger results, such as linked BIDs,provides more consistent results to different inquiries.

The system, method and software of the invention then begin to determinewhether the inquiry data matches to an existing record of the database100, step 335. The matching process is divided into two portions. In afirst “Business Evaluate” portion, potential matches from the group ofpossible matches are rejected, and variations in the match for eachelement are determined and weighted or ranked, step 340. In a second“Business Qualify” portion, the inquiry data must affirmatively qualifyto be a match, step 345. The result of the matching process may be amatch to an existing record, with or without BID linking, or no match toan existing record, with an assignment of a new BID or a “suspense ID”(discussed in greater detail below). The matching process is considered“rules-based”, as an expert system, rather than merely using amodel-based matching system with a scoring or weighting methodology.

The “Business Evaluate” portion of the matching process (step 340),eliminates potential matches using a variety of criteria, usingrejection logic or algorithms, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Initialelimination is based on a business name element, from business nametable 215 within database 100. Clear conflicts in names are eliminatedfrom the group of possible matches, without requiring the use ofadditional data, providing greater matching efficiency. For example, inmatching to an inquiry with a business name of “Experian”, otherbusinesses having similar addresses are eliminated, such as “Kinko'scopy center”. Other types of name rejections are also utilized, and mayinclude use of other information, such as a conflict in both names andtax identifications. Other “negative” or elimination match algorithmsare also utilized, eliminating conflicts in names, addresses, and so on.“Full identity” rejection logic is then applied, such that a record isrejected as a match when the record partially matches in one field, butconflicts in two other fields, utilizing any available data from thedatabase 100. Conflicts of standard industry codes are also utilized toeliminate potential matches from the group of potential matches, such aseliminating cleaning and manufacturing businesses when searching andmatching for a restaurant business. Rankings or weightings for matchvariations (e.g., strong weighting for an exact match of an element,less weighting for a “sounds-like” or other inexact match). Theseconflict and elimination determinations may be made utilizing any of thevarious tables of the database 100 discussed above.

Having winnowed or otherwise reduced the group of potential matches instep 340, the second portion of the matching process (step 345) thenexamines conditions which should exist or occur in order for the inquirydata to affirmatively qualify as a match to an existing record, using“positive match” algorithms. In general, at least two elements or fieldsare required to match, as pairs of information, with degrees of matching(exact, less exact or “fuzzy”), with corresponding weighting. Forexample, a match of both name and address will qualify as a match forthe inquiry data, and may override a conflict of other data, such as SICcode, tax ID, or telephone number.

The results of the positive matching are then examined; the results maybe that no match has been found, a match has been found, more than onematch has been found, or that more information is required in theinquiry to determine a match. If no match is found, the inquiry data maybe assigned a new BID, and stored for subsequent match and linkingdeterminations. If more than one match is found, the results may beexamined to determine whether BID linking is in order, and whether atie-breaker (“cross PIN”) analysis should be performed. In addition,such data may be logged or stored as public or private.

As mentioned above, BID linking may occur when sufficient informationexists to link previously separate and independent records havingdistinct BIDs. For example, the inquiry (or update data) may containbusiness name and account information, which matches to a first BID, andname and address information which matches equally well to a second BID.The first and second BIDs may be linked and logically merged inaccordance with the present invention, indicating a new businesslocation, in this example. As a result of the linking, one of the linkedBIDs will be provided as a match result.

In addition, the results are examined to perform a tie-break for twoequally matched BIDs. As historical data is maintained at a granularlevel for each BID and any of its linked BIDs, such as variations ofname, address, tax ID and telephone number information, with associatedweightings and verifications, this information may be examined ingreater detail, to determine whether one BID provides a closer matchthan another BID.

Other than with reporter data, match criteria may also be more flexible,depending upon the selected embodiment, to provide a less accurate matchcapability, such as a “best guess” with less confidence than an exactmatch. For such a selected embodiment, in step 350, the matching resultsmay be re-examined or re-evaluated with less strict matchingrequirements, such as examining similarities. (For reporter data, in theselected embodiments, an exact match is preferred, to avoid a potentialseries of inaccurate matches). The result may also be a matched BID, orthat more inquiry information is required to perform a match (e.g., aname “Water Tower” for a shopping mall may include many businesseshaving “Water Tower” in their names, such as “Water Tower” cleaners,“Water Tower” supermarket, “Water Tower” restaurant, and so on,requiring more information to identify a particular business). Anotheroption, for a plurality of equally but flexibly matched entities, is toconsistently select a particular BID for the match, such as the lowestBID.

Considerable intelligence is provided as a result of this search andmatch process. Providing that no match is found, or that moreinformation is needed to differentiate potential matches, can be verysignificant. For example, it may prevent a company from unknowinglyextending credit to a problematic business that has a similar name toanother company, or prevent a company from extending a repeat customerpromotional offer to a non-customer.

Following steps 345 or 350, results from the search and match processmay be that no match has been found, a match has been found and a BIDprovided, or that more information is required in the inquiry todetermine a match. When a BID has been matched, client-based or globalsuppression rules are then applied, step 355, to determine whether thematched BID and corresponding information may be provided as output. Forexample, credit information may be subject to global suppression rules,such that particular information is not provided unless confirmed frommore than one source. Other information may be private for a particularclient, such that the information will be provided as output only tothat client, and suppressed for all others. Other private informationmay be allowed to be provided to selected industries and not others.

For the information which is provided following step 355, verification,site IDs and other authentication codes are provided, step 360.Authentication codes are used to indicate that particular informationwas reported and is being updated by one or more reliable reportersources. Site IDs, as indicated above, are unique identifiers providedfor every address associated with a selected BID. Verification codes areprovided to indicate the quality of associated information, such as amatch to a telephone number which is not current, or a match in which atax ID of the inquiry data is a few digits off. Verification codes mayalso indicate that particular data has not been verified and is merelybeing logged and tracked, for example. The various flexible linking orother inexact matching information may also be provided, withcorresponding confidence levels or other indication of the degree orcloseness of match.

The resulting data from the search and match process may then be appliedto update the database 100, step 365. For example, when no match hasoccurred, the inquiry data may be logged and stored in the database withits own new and unique BID.

For private client data which is not in reported sources, when no matchhas occurred, the inquiry data may be logged and stored using a“suspense ID” or other form of private identification, allowing theinformation to be tracked as private information, which may besubsequently confirmed and matched to a selected BID, and provided as anupdate notification to the client.

Other services may also be provided within the methodology of FIG. 3,step 370, such as appending business owner data (particularly for smallbusinesses), or appending corporate relationship data, such as parent,subsidiary and other related corporate information. Additionalinformation concerning business owners may also be available from thecorresponding consumer data table 265 and other consumer informationsources. Depending upon the selected embodiment, other integratedservices may also be provided, such as appending demographic or creditdata.

As indicated above, based on incoming information (such as from reporterservices), a suspense ID may become associated with a BID, or a firstBID may become linked with a second BID, third BID, etc. As aconsequence, this subsequent information is provided as part of theoutput results, step 375, in selected embodiments of the invention.

Following steps 370 and 375, the resulting information, such as matchingBIDs and associated name, address, tax ID, telephone numbers, BIDupdates, suspense ID updates, and other requested information, isformatted for delivery to the client, step 380. Such formatting may bein the form of a useable list for the client, as enhanced datacorresponding to the client batch file, or as enhanced data formattedfor network communication, such as using hypertext or extensible markuplanguage for display as a web page. In addition, in step 380, encryptingmay be utilized, and may be customized for a selected client. Whenprivate data is included, the particular client will have a unique viewof the resulting data which may be unavailable to others. Onceformatted, the enhanced data provided by the search and match processwith linkable and persistent Business IDs is provided, step 385, and themethod may end.

The output data may be utilized for a wide variety of purposes. Thepersistent BID may be utilized for tracking and updating associatedinformation. The output data may be used for confirmation of theexistence of a business, that a “real” company is involved, and issignificant for fraud prevention. The output data also provides anindication of the quality of associated data, and may be enhanced with awide variety of related information.

A variation of the methodology illustrated in FIG. 3 may be utilized forupdating the database 100 using reporter data from reporter sources(from step 307). Such reporter data may or may not require the extensivesearch and match technology utilized for inquiry data. Under certaincircumstances, utilizing the business source master table 205, name andaddress fields may be hashed, with numeric values assigned to characterstrings, and compared with a corresponding hash value from the reporterdata. For change detection, if the hash values are identical, then thereporter data indicates that no change has occurred, while if the hashvalues are different, a change (update) is indicated for that record.

An additional feature typically utilized in updating the database 100from reporter sources, and mentioned briefly above, is use of a“triangulation” point for change detection and updating. Various sets ofoverlapping or partially overlapping information may be utilized, withagreement of two or more fields indicating a change in another (third)field. For example, a particular record may have business name, address,and account information. Current information from a reporter source maymatch on the name and account information, and have a different address.This reporter source, with agreement in two areas, may be utilized toupdate a third area, such as the address information. When this updatedinformation is associated with a second BID, this triangulation providesan important way to determine linkage of two or more separate andpreviously independent BIDs to each other.

As indicated above, the system of the present invention generallycomprises a memory storing a data repository (or database) 100 and aprocessor, such as a processor 115 included within a mainframe computerof system 110 or within either (or both) a database management server140 or an application server 125 of system 150. The processor isprogrammed to perform the linking methodology of the present invention,generally as part of more general search and match capability, forinquiry data or for reporter data. As a consequence, the system andmethod of the present invention may be embodied as software whichprovides such programming.

More generally, the system, methods and programs of the presentinvention may be embodied in any number of forms, such as within anytype of computer, within a workstation, within an application serversuch as application server 125, within a database management server 140,within a computer network, within an adaptive computing device, orwithin any other form of computing or other system used to create orcontain source code. Such source code further may be compiled into someform of instructions or object code (including assembly languageinstructions or configuration information). The software or source codeof the present invention may be embodied as any type of source code,such as SQL and its variations (e.g., SQL 99 or proprietary versions ofSQL), C, C++, Java, or any other type of programming language whichperforms the functionality discussed above. As a consequence, a“construct” or “program construct”, as used herein, means and refers toany programming language, of any kind, with any syntax or signatures,which provides or can be interpreted to provide the associatedfunctionality or methodology (when instantiated or loaded into a serveror other computing device).

The software or other source code of the present invention and anyresulting bit file (object code or configuration bit sequence) may beembodied within any tangible storage medium, such as within a memory orstorage device for use by a computer, a workstation, any othermachine-readable medium or form, or any other storage form or medium foruse in a computing system. Such storage medium, memory or other storagedevices may be any type of memory device, memory integrated circuit(“IC”), or memory portion of an integrated circuit (such as the residentmemory within a processor IC), including without limitation RAM, FLASH,DRAM, SRAM, MRAM, FeRAM, ROM, EPROM or EPROM, or any other type ofmemory, storage medium, or data storage apparatus or circuit, dependingupon the selected embodiment. For example, without limitation, atangible medium storing computer readable software, or othermachine-readable medium, may include a floppy disk, a CDROM, a CD-RW, amagnetic hard drive, an optical drive, a quantum computing storagemedium or device, or any other type of data storage apparatus or medium.

In summary, the present invention provides a method, system and softwarefor associating a plurality of business records to a business entity ofa plurality of business entities. An exemplary system embodiment(110,150) comprises a memory storing or housing a data repository (100)and a processor coupled to the data repository, such as a processorwithin a mainframe computer (110), an application server (125) or adatabase management server (140). The data repository (memory) storesthe plurality of business records and stores a plurality of businessidentifiers, wherein each business identifier of the plurality ofbusiness identifiers is unique. The processor is configured to associatea first business record, of the plurality of business records, with afirst business identifier of the plurality of business identifiers; andto associate a second business record, of the plurality of businessrecords, with a second business identifier of the plurality of businessidentifiers. This second association, of a second BID, is generally aconsequence of the second business record not matching the firstbusiness record sufficiently. Subsequently, when the first businessidentifier and the second business identifier are determined tocorrespond to a singular business entity of the plurality of businessentities, the processor is further configured to link the first businessidentifier and the second business identifier and to maintain the linkof the first business identifier and the second business identifier inthe data repository.

The processor is further configured to maintain in the data repository(memory) the respective associations of the first business record andthe second business record with the linked first business identifier andsecond business identifier, generally for a predetermined period oftime, such as 10 or more years, or such as another minimum period oftime followed by an indefinite period, such as a current plan tomaintain the data forever.

The processor is further configured to determine that the first businessidentifier and the second business identifier correspond to the singularbusiness entity by determining that a third business record, of theplurality of business records, is both associated with the firstbusiness record and associated with the second business record, such asby determining that a third business record, of the plurality ofbusiness records, matches with a first element of a first plurality ofelements of the first business record and further matches with a secondelement of a second plurality of elements of the second business record.In accordance with the invention, the first plurality of elements andthe second plurality of elements each comprise at least two of thefollowing elements: a business name element, a business address element,a tax identification element, a telephone number element, a standardindustry code element, and a client key element.

Also in summary, the processor is further configured to determine amatch by: determining a plurality of potentially matching businessrecords; and eliminating, from the plurality of potentially matchingbusiness records, a potentially matching business record which does notmatch a business name element of the third business record, or apotentially matching business record which does not match a businessaddress element of the third business record, or a potentially matchingbusiness record which does not match a standard industry code element ofthe third business record. Following elimination of one or morepotentially matching business records from the plurality of potentiallymatching business records, the processor is further configured toaffirmatively match the third business record to the first element ofthe first plurality of elements of the first business record, the firstbusiness record remaining within the plurality of potentially matchingbusiness records, and to affirmatively match the third business recordto the second element of the second plurality of elements of the secondbusiness record, the second business record remaining within theplurality of potentially matching business records. The affirmativematching may be exact, or may be flexible and have a correspondingconfidence level.

Prior to linking, the processor is further configured to associate thefirst business record with the first business identifier by matching thefirst business record to another business record associated with thefirst business identifier, of the plurality of business records, or toassociate the first business record with the first business identifierby not matching the first business record to any another business recordof the plurality of business records and to assign the first businessidentifier to the first business record as representative of apreviously unidentified business entity of the plurality of businessentities.

Lastly, the processor is further configured to associate a plurality ofbusiness addresses with the first business identifier, each businessaddress of the plurality of business addresses having a unique siteidentifier of a plurality of site identifiers associated with the firstbusiness identifier, and to maintain in the data repository theassociation of the plurality of business addresses and correspondingplurality of site identifiers with the first business identifier.

Numerous advantages of the present invention are readily apparent. Thepresent invention provides a system, method and software for linkingunique business identifiers, associated with business entities, forassociating corresponding business records without a loss of historicalrecords, regardless of subsequent changes, updates, and mergers. Thebusiness identifiers of the present invention are persistent andinvariant. Following a linking of business identifiers, each businessidentifier of the linking continues to exist, will all correspondinghistorical and other associated records.

The maintenance of records and other information at a “granular” level,without consolidation or merger, and associating those records with aBID, provides for improved searching and matching capability, allowingsearches to include data variations which might otherwise be lost in amerger of data records. The history and sources for all of thisinformation are also tracked and maintained, providing significantverification capability, differentiation capability and correspondingconfidence levels in the match process.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations andmodifications may be effected without departing from the spirit andscope of the novel concept of the invention. It is to be understood thatno limitation with respect to the specific methods and apparatusillustrated herein is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course,intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fallwithin the scope of the claims.

1. A computer-implemented method of creating a data structure stored ina memory, wherein the data structure provides information to linkbusiness or personal records that are related to a same person of aplurality of persons or to a same business entity of a plurality ofbusiness entities, for database searching and record matchingoperations, the method comprising: (a) associating a first record, of aplurality of business or personal records, with a first identifier of aplurality of identifiers that identifies at least one person of theplurality of persons or identifies at least one business entity of theplurality of business entities, wherein each identifier is unique andpersistent for a predetermined period of time; (b) associating a secondrecord, of the plurality of business or personal records, with a secondidentifier that identifies at least one person of the plurality ofpersons or identifies at least one business entity of the plurality ofbusiness entities; (c) determining that the first identifier and thesecond identifier correspond to a same person or same business entity bydetermining that a third record, of the plurality of business orpersonal records, matches with a first element of a first plurality ofelements of the first record and further matches with a second elementof a second plurality of elements of the second record; (d) determininga plurality of potentially matching records, and from the plurality ofpotentially matching records, eliminating a potentially matching recordwhich does not sufficiently match a name element of the first, second orthird records within a selected or predetermined confidence level; (e)when the first identifier and the second identifier are determined tocorrespond to the same person of the plurality of persons or to the samebusiness entity of the plurality of business entities, linking the firstidentifier and the second identifier in a data structure that providesrespective references to the first and second records without mergingthe first and second records under either the first or secondidentifiers and without merging the first and second identifiers; (f)separately maintaining information in the first record associated withthe first identifier and information in the second record associatedwith the second identifier for the predetermined period of time; (g)when information about the same person of the plurality of persons orthe same business entity of the plurality of business entities isrequested, grouping retrieved information that is separately maintainedin both the first and second records via either one of the firstidentifier or second identifier based on the link between the first andsecond identifiers in the data structure; and (h) collectively utilizingthe first record and the second record, corresponding to the linkedfirst identifier and second identifier, in subsequent search and matchdeterminations.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinstep (c) further comprises: determining that the first identifier andthe second identifier correspond to the same person or same businessentity by determining that a third record, of the plurality of businessor personal records, is associated with both the first record and thesecond record.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe first plurality of elements and the second plurality of elementseach comprise at least two elements selected from the group consistingof: a name element, an address element, a tax identification element, atelephone number element, a standard industry code element, and a clientkey element.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining a plurality of potentially matching records fromthe plurality of business or personal records, and from the plurality ofpotentially matching records, eliminating a potentially matching recordwhich does not match a tax identification element of the third record.5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: fromthe plurality of potentially matching records, eliminating a potentiallymatching record which does not match an address element of the thirdrecord.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, furthercomprising: from the plurality of potentially matching records,eliminating a potentially matching record which does not match astandard industry code element of the third record.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: followingelimination of one or more potentially matching records from theplurality of potentially matching records, affirmatively matching thethird record to the first element of the first plurality of elements ofthe first record, the first record remaining within the plurality ofpotentially matching records, and affirmatively matching the thirdrecord to the second element of the second plurality of elements of thesecond record, the second record remaining within the plurality ofpotentially matching records.
 8. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 7, wherein a degree of affirmative matching is variable and has acorresponding confidence level.
 9. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the sufficiency of matching is variable and has acorresponding selected or predetermined confidence level.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein step (a) furthercomprises: associating the first record with the first identifier bymatching the first record to another record associated with the firstidentifier, of the plurality of business or personal records.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein step (a) furthercomprises: associating the first record with the first identifier by notmatching to any another record of the plurality of business or personalrecords and assigning the first identifier to the first record asrepresentative of a previously unidentified person of the plurality ofpersons or a previously unidentified business entity of the plurality ofbusiness entities.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising: associating a plurality of addresses with the firstidentifier, each address of the plurality of addresses having a uniquesite identifier of a plurality of site identifiers associated with thefirst identifier.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising: associating a site identifier with the firstidentifier, the site identifier corresponding to an address associatedwith the first identifier.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim1, further comprising: prior to step (a), searching a consumer databasefor a match of the first record and, when no match is determined,searching a business database for a match of the first record.
 15. Asystem for creating a data structure to link records that are related toa same person of a plurality of persons or to a same business entity ofa plurality of business entities, for data repository searching and forrecord matching operations, the system comprising: one or more datastorage devices to store the data repository having a plurality ofbusiness or personal records and a plurality of identifiers thatidentifies the plurality of persons or the plurality of businessentities, wherein each identifier is unique and persistent for apredetermined period of time; and one or more processors coupled to theone or more data storage devices, the one or more processors toassociate a first record of the plurality of business or personalrecords with a first identifier that identifies at least one person ofthe plurality of persons or identifies at least one business entity ofthe plurality of business entities; to associate a second record of theplurality of business or personal records with a second identifier thatidentifies at least one person of the plurality of persons or identifiesat least one business entity of the plurality of business entities; todetermine that the first identifier and the second identifier correspondto the same person or same business entity by determining that a thirdrecord, of the plurality of business or personal records, matches with afirst element of a first plurality of elements of the first record andfurther matches with a second element of a second plurality of elementsof the second record; to determine a plurality of potentially matchingrecords, and from the plurality of potentially matching records, toeliminate a potentially matching record which does not sufficientlymatch a name element of the first, second or third records within aselected or predetermined confidence level; when the first identifierand the second identifier are determined to correspond to the sameperson of the plurality of persons or to the same business entity of theplurality of business entities, to link in the data repository the firstidentifier and the second identifier in a data structure that providesrespective references to the first and second records without mergingthe first and second records under either the first or secondidentifiers and without merging the first and second identifiers; toseparately maintain in the data repository information in the firstrecord associated with the first identifier and information in thesecond record associated with the second identifier for thepredetermined period of time; and when information about the same personor same business entity is requested, to retrieve and group informationthat is separately maintained in both the first and second records viaeither one of the first identifier or second identifier based on thelink between the first and second identifiers in the data structure. 16.The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are tocollectively utilize the first record and the second record,corresponding to the linked first identifier and second identifier, insubsequent search and match determinations.
 17. The system of claim 15,wherein the one or more processors are to determine that the firstidentifier and the second identifier correspond to the same person orsame business entity by determining that a third record, of the first orsecond pluralities of records, is associated with both the first recordand the second record.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the firstplurality of elements and the second plurality of elements each compriseat least two elements selected from the group consisting of: a nameelement, an address element, a tax identification element, a telephonenumber element, a standard industry code element, and a client keyelement.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processorsare to determine a plurality of potentially matching records, and fromthe plurality of potentially matching records, to eliminate apotentially matching record which does not match a tax identificationelement of the third record.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the oneor more processors are to eliminate, from the plurality of potentiallymatching records, a potentially matching record which does not match anaddress element of the third record.
 21. The system of claim 19, whereinthe one or more processors are to eliminate, from the plurality ofpotentially matching records, a potentially matching record which doesnot match a standard industry code element of the third record.
 22. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein following elimination of one or morepotentially matching records from the plurality of potentially matchingrecords, the one or more processors are to affirmatively match the thirdrecord to the first element of the first plurality of elements of thefirst record, the first record remaining within the plurality ofpotentially matching records, and to affirmatively match the thirdrecord to the second element of the second plurality of elements of thesecond record, the second record remaining within the plurality ofpotentially matching records.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein adegree of affirmative matching is variable and has a correspondingconfidence level.
 24. The system of claim 15, wherein the sufficiency ofmatching is variable and has a corresponding selected or predeterminedconfidence level.
 25. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or moreprocessors are to associate the first record with the first identifierby matching the first record to another record associated with the firstidentifier, of the plurality of business or personal records.
 26. Thesystem of claim 15, the one or more processors are to associate thefirst record with the first identifier by not matching the first recordto any another record of the first plurality of records and to assignthe first identifier to the first record as representative of apreviously unidentified person of the plurality of persons or apreviously unidentified business entity of the plurality of businessentities.
 27. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processorsare to associate a plurality of addresses with the first identifier,each address of the plurality of addresses having a unique siteidentifier of a plurality of site identifiers associated with the firstidentifier, and to maintain in the data repository the association ofthe plurality of addresses and corresponding plurality of siteidentifiers with the first identifier.
 28. The system of claim 15,wherein the one or more processors are to associate a site identifierwith the first identifier, the site identifier corresponding to anaddress associated with the first identifier, and to maintain in thedata repository the association of the addresses and corresponding siteidentifier with the first identifier.
 29. The system of claim 15,wherein the one or more processors are to search a consumer database fora match of the first record and, when no match is determined, to searcha business database for a match of the first record.
 30. Acomputer-readable medium storing computer-readable software for creatinga data structure in a database stored in one or more data storagedevices, wherein the data structure provides information to link recordsthat are related to a same person of a plurality of persons or to a samebusiness entity of a plurality of business entities, for databasesearching and record matching operations, the computer-readable mediumstoring computer-readable software comprising: a first program constructfor associating a first record, of a plurality of business or personalrecords stored in the memory having the database, with a firstidentifier of a plurality of identifiers that identifies at least oneperson of the plurality of persons or identifies at least one businessentity of the plurality of business entities, wherein each identifier isunique and persistent for a predetermined period of time; a secondprogram construct for associating a second record, of the plurality ofbusiness or personal records, with a second identifier that identifiesat least one person of the plurality of persons or identifies at leastone business entity of the plurality of business entities; a thirdprogram construct for linking in the database the first identifier andthe second identifier in the data repository identifier in a datastructure that provides respective references to the first and secondrecords without merging the first and second records under either thefirst or second identifiers and without merging the first and secondidentifiers when the first identifier and the second identifier aredetermined to correspond to the same person of the plurality of personsor to the same business entity of a plurality of business entities; afourth program construct for separately maintaining information in thefirst record associated with the first identifier and information in thesecond record associated with the second identifier for thepredetermined period of time; and when information about the same personor same business entity is requested, grouping retrieved informationthat is separately maintained in both first and second records viaeither one of the first identifier or second identifier based on thelink between the first and second identifiers in the data structure; afifth program construct for determining that the first identifier andthe second identifier correspond to the same person or same businessentity by determining that a third record, of the plurality of records,matches with a first element of a first plurality of elements of thefirst record and further matches with a second element of a secondplurality of elements of the second record; a sixth program constructfor determining a plurality of potentially matching records, and fromthe plurality of potentially matching records, eliminating a potentiallymatching record which does not sufficiently match a name element of thefirst, second or third records within a selected or predeterminedconfidence level; and a seventh program construct for collectiveutilization of the first record and the second record, corresponding tothe linked first identifier and second identifier, in subsequent searchand match determinations.
 31. The computer-readable medium storingcomputer-readable software of claim 30, wherein the fifth programconstruct further provides for determining that the first identifier andthe second identifier correspond to the same person or same businessentity by determining that a third record, of the first or secondpluralities of records, is associated with both the first record and thesecond record.
 32. The computer-readable medium storingcomputer-readable software of claim 30, wherein the first plurality ofelements and the second plurality of elements each comprise at least twoelements selected from the group consisting of: a name element, anaddress element, a tax identification element, a telephone numberelement, a standard industry code element, and a client key element. 33.The computer-readable medium storing computer-readable software of claim30, wherein the fifth program construct further determines a match by:determining a plurality of potentially matching records, and from theplurality of potentially matching records, eliminating a potentiallymatching record which does not sufficiently match a tax identificationelement of the third record; from the plurality of potentially matchingrecords, eliminating a potentially matching record which does notsufficiently match an address element of the third record; from theplurality of potentially matching records, eliminating a potentiallymatching record which does not sufficiently match a standard industrycode element of the third record; and following elimination of one ormore potentially matching records from the plurality of potentiallymatching records, affirmatively matching the third record to the firstelement of the first plurality of elements of the first record to aselected confidence level, the first record remaining within theplurality of potentially matching records, and affirmatively matchingthe third record to the second element of the second plurality ofelements of the second record to the selected confidence level, thesecond record remaining within the plurality of potentially matchingrecords.
 34. The computer-readable medium storing computer-readablesoftware of claim 30, wherein the first program construct associates thefirst record with the first identifier by matching the first record toanother record associated with the first identifier, of the plurality ofbusiness or personal records.
 35. The computer-readable medium storingcomputer-readable software of claim 30, further comprising: an eighthprogram construct for associating a plurality of addresses with thefirst identifier, each address of the plurality of addresses having aunique site identifier of a plurality of site identifiers associatedwith the first identifier.
 36. The computer-readable medium storingcomputer-readable software of claim 30, further comprising: a ninthprogram construct for associating a site identifier with the firstidentifier, the site identifier corresponding to an address associatedwith the first identifier.
 37. A computer-implemented method of creatinga data structure stored in a memory, wherein the data structure providesinformation to link business or personal records with a person of aplurality of persons or a business entity of the plurality of businessentities, for database searching and record matching operations, themethod comprising: associating a first record, of a plurality ofbusiness or personal records, with a first identifier of a plurality ofidentifiers that identifies at least one person of the plurality ofpersons or identifies at least one business entity of the plurality ofbusiness entities, wherein each identifier is unique and persistent fora predetermined period of time; associating a second record, of theplurality of business or personal records, with a second identifier thatidentifies at least one person of the plurality of persons or identifiesat least one business entity of the plurality of business entities;determining that the first identifier and the second identifiercorrespond to a same person of the plurality of persons or a samebusiness entity of the plurality of business entities by determiningthat a third record, of the plurality of business or personal records,sufficiently matches with a first element of a first plurality ofelements of the first record to a selected or predetermined confidencelevel and further sufficiently matches with a second element of a secondplurality of elements of the second record to the selected orpredetermined confidence level; determining a plurality of potentiallymatching records, and from the plurality of potentially matchingrecords, eliminating a potentially matching record which does notsufficiently match a name element and a tax identification element ofthe first, second or third records within the selected or predeterminedconfidence level; when the first identifier and the second identifierare determined to correspond to the same person of the plurality ofpersons or to the same business entity of a plurality of businessentities, linking the first identifier and the second identifier in adata structure that provides respective references to the first andsecond records without merging the first and second records and withoutmerging the first and second identifiers; separately maintaininginformation in the first record associated with the first identifier andinformation in the second record associated with the second identifierfor the predetermined period of time; and when information about thesame person or same business entity is requested, retrieving andgrouping information that is separately maintained in both the first andsecond records via either one of the first identifier or secondidentifier based on the link between the first and second identifiers inthe data structure.